MANILA -- The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has completed its weighing test of Dalian trains for the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) railway system Thursday night.

The weight testing conducted at the MRT depot was preceded by a series of procedures, including equipment installation, calibration, weighing of empty trains, and loading of weights. It was witnessed by representatives from TUV Rheinland, members of MRT-3’s Joint ADB-Australia Aid Advisory Panel and the DOTr-MRT 3 management.

The test was done by weighing a Dalian car loaded with 1,464 sandbags each weighing 17.5 kilograms (kg) to simulate the train’s crush capacity of 8 persons per square meter or a total of 394 passengers per car.

"Iyong weight-testing ngayon is part of a broader auditing and acceptance process. Different factors kasi 'yung pumapasok sa tanong na kung acceptable ba siya or hindi. Our independent auditor, na nagsimula noong January, will put all their findings together once all of the processes are done. They will give their assessments and recommendations. (The weight testing is part of a broader auditing and acceptance process. There are different factors that need to be determined if the trains will be acceptable or not. Our independent auditor, which started last January, will put all their findings together once all of the processes are done. They will give their assessments and recommendations),” DOTr Undersecretary for Railways Timothy John Batan said in a press briefing Thursday after the tests at the depot.

The MRT-3 management expects TUV Rheinland to submit its comprehensive audit report on the Dalian trains within one to two weeks.

TUV Rheinland recommended the weight-testing in Manila after the previous project team that handled the procurement and delivery of the cars failed to attend and witness the weight-testing done in Dalian, China in 2015.

FORMER Negros Oriental congressman Jacinto “Jing” Paras challenged DILG secretary Mar Roxas on Tuesday to reveal what really happened in the MRT bribery scandal since Roxas was the one who initially signed the billion peso MRT maintenance contract in favor of PH Trams.....

GOTCHA - Jarius Bondoc (The Philippine Star) - May 25, 2018 - 12:00amReturn those trains to China to fix the many defects. That’s the recommendation of Japanese evaluators of the 48 MRT-3 railcars from Dalian Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co. German engineers separately noted the same faults, and told the Dept. of Transportation to act accordingly. Ride safety, reliability, and comfort depend on it.

Those are on top of earlier bared serious design flops. The railcars, or coaches, are 3.3 tons overweight and the chassis ill fit. Configured for four-coach train sets, each train would be 13.2 tons heavier. Wrong sized, they cannot be hoisted for inspection and repair on existing hi-precision equipment at the MRT-3 depot.

“The cars should be returned to Dalian factory and rebuilt,” experts from Japanese giant Sumitomo Corp. concluded in Apr. Rework should be “from design qualification until factory acceptance under supervision of a rail consultant and/or DOTr with full responsibility” – meaning, begin again. In Mar. the Japan International Cooperation Agency, from which DOTr is borrowing to rehabilitate MRT-3, called in Sumitomo as the commuter railway’s original constructor and maintenance servicer.

Sumitomo stated: “As a result of the assessment of the Dalian reports, it can be concluded that, in fact, all 48 cars did not have any kind of certifications, which should have been used as evidence to verify achievement of all performance tests required for train system, such as design qualification, proper procurement, correctness of manufacturing, operating performance, insurance of safety, etc. This means that the Dalian cars are not reliable, they cannot be considered as qualified cars and nobody can ascertain that the(y) are safe passenger railcars.”

Dalian had not checked the 48 coaches for most of the dozens of engineering specifications. The few tests done in-factory were only on one to three units, Nos. 3102, 3103, and 3104. Lesser inspections after delivery in Manila did not identify the coach number, thus pointless.

TUV Rheinland technicians saw similar design and manufacturing faults. Deviating from contract specs, Dalian lacked requisite safety and performance certifications. DOTr hired the German quality-audit firm in Feb.DOTr should have acted at once on Sumitomo and TUV Rheinland’s findings. Transport Sec. Arthur Tugade and Railways U-Sec. Timothy John Batan repeatedly said before that they would abide by the specialists’ assessment of Dalian wares. Singapore, Hong Kong, and Pakistan had returned for retrofitting botched Chinese trains.

But higher-ups are indecisive, DOTr insiders say in sharing the audits. Dalian and Chinese officials reportedly are pressuring them to pay up. Yet nobody at DOTr wants to sign any payment processing.

Railcars are not bought from showrooms like sedans. They are made to fit buyers’ specs. In MRT-3’s case the terms of reference consisted of 600-plus pages. Part of it is that the Dalian coaches must copy the 73 originals from the Czech maker. They must hew in with the tracks, power supply, signaling, stations, depot, repair yard, and existing operation and maintenance equipment.

None of the coaches was test-run for 5,000 kilometers, as required, at varied speeds, curves, slopes, loads, weather, and emergencies. In a mishap, what could happen to a full load of 394 passengers?Overweight will stress the 48 railcars’ wheels, axles, and tracks, and consequently the 73 older units. Rides would be risky, rickety. With faster metal wear, parts will need frequent costly replacement and repair.

The ill-fit chassis prevents roll-up of the railcars on the giant pit jack. Under-chassis inspection, maintenance, repair, and parts change of wheels, articulators, and brakes, among others, cannot be done. Dalian purportedly wants the machine cut by 25 millimeters to suit the 48 cars. But that would ruin the sensors and stability of the hundred-million-peso equipment that services the 73 other units. Besides, doing that could lead to charges before the Ombudsman for allowing contract breaches.

If up to par Dalian’s units would upgrade MRT-3 to four-car trains from the present three. The power supply and depot already are being modified for that, at hundreds of millions of pesos. Trains would take in more commuters on faster, more frequent rides. Traffic would ease not only along EDSA that MRT-3 traverses, but the whole Mega Manila.

But past transport men fouled up and present ones are in a tizzy. Delivered late and faulty, the Dalian trains have been inoperative since 2016.

Old riles could not stand and overweight train in a long run and it would cost more replacing the old one ..isa lang yan na nakikita noon marami pa pala over a dozen problem na hinde nakita nang mga bobong engineer na dilawan ....kitam

_________________Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others He who envies others does not achieve peace. - Buddha

Parang habal habal.lang na nilagyan nang side car. At kinargahan nang apat na tao na ang design is for one person to last for five years according to japanese design..pero hinde pa inabot nang isang taon na overhaul na at maraming nang pinalitan...utak dilawan talaga..no wonder marcos infrastructure oulast the new one under Cory up to present. ..corruption is define by this..sino ang kurakot????

_________________Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others He who envies others does not achieve peace. - Buddha

Transport Sec. Arthur Tugade must explain. Why is he borrowing P17 billion from Japan to rehabilitate the MRT-3 commuter railway? That’s despite Japanese giant Sumitomo Corp.’s offer of only P7.5 billion – nearly P10 billion less – to do the work.

Filipinos are entitled to an answer. Their taxes will pay for the 25-year loan. Far too long has MRT-3 been a milking cow of crooked train officials. For five years till last Nov. it sloppily was maintained at multibillion-peso overprices.

Tugade’s Dept. of Transportation (DOTr) announced last week the forthcoming P17-billion loan. The amount supposedly was arrived at after weeklong technical talks with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The scope of work was mentioned in the DOTr press release. But there was no breakdown of the P17 billion beside each work item. It only stated that “the project will cost Japanese yen 34.48 billion, or P16.985 billion.”

DOTr and JICA earlier indicated preference for Sumitomo to handle the rehab. Sumitomo, through MRT-3’s private owner-builder Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRTC), has quoted only P7.5 billion for the long-overdue work. That offer was sent to Malacañang in 2016, and to Tugade in 2016 and 2017. Sumitomo and MRTC have not received any reply.

“Rehabilitation and Maintenance project will take 43 months: 31 months for the simultaneous rehabilitation and maintenance works to restore MRT-3 to its original design condition and capacity, and 12 months for the defect liability period,” the DOTr said.

Sumitomo is well versed with the state of MRT-3. With Mitsubishi Heavy Industries it constructed the railway in 1998-1999, then handled maintenance in 2000-2012.

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